Paris Boat Show and factory tours with Dufour Yachts and Bali Catamarans
December was an event filled month for me. I was able to visit the Paris Boat Show. Dream Yacht Charter has a full booth with all of their European charter booking brokers and yacht brokers in attendance. Most European manufacturers also were in attendance. This show is massive and gives you an opportunity to see Paris and attend one of the largest indoor boat shows worldwide. Dufour Yachts has every yacht on display except for their new Dufour 63. Fortunately, I was able to see the new Dufour 63 in production at their factory in La Rochelle. Dufour also had the new 520 on display with the new 2 stage platform pictured below.
After a day at the boat show, I traveled to La Rochelle by train which is a 3 hour trip to west coast of France on the Atlantic. La Rochelle is the headquarters for many well known yacht manufacturers. On this trip I only had time to visit Dufour Yachts and Bali Catamarans. If you have never been to La Rochelle, it’s a definite MUST!
Day 1 we visited the Dufour factory and saw first hand how their manufacture all of their monohulls including the new 63 pictured below. Dufour has a long history in La Rochelle producing high quality and higher performance sailboats. Day 2 we visited the Bali Catamaran factory. The drive is about 30 minutes from La Rochelle. I actually stumbled on the new Bali 4.0 “Free and Easy” pictured below waiting to be delivered to its new owners meant for charter in the Bahamas. Happy to share my experience with anyone interested in visiting La Rochelle or other manufacturers including Dufour and Bali. I happily travel with prospective buyers to visit the various manufacturing sites in Europe.
